Learn the necessary language to be able to make a hotel reservation in Spanish.

Super Basic Spanish

Basic Spanish: Reserva de Hotel (Hotel Reservation)

あけましておめでとうございます！

Nihongo Hiyori | Japanese Podcast

[EP082] 年末年始🎍 | End of The Year and New Year 

16日の夜、宮城県（みやぎけん）と福島県（ふくしまけん）で大きな地震がありました。
Twitterで東京でも大きく揺れたと言っている人がいました。
今回の地震で大きく揺れたところでは、これから１週間ほどまた大きな地震が起こる可能性があるそうです。
また、この地震で東北新幹線が脱線しました。
乗客の中にケガをした人はいませんでしたが、線路が壊れました。
特に福島駅と仙台駅の間は壊れている所が多く、3月末までに運転を再開するのは難しいようです。

＜ニュースについてのコメント＞
18日も岩手県（いわてけん）で強い地震がありましたね。日本にいる人たちはこれからしばらく心が落ち着かないかもしれませんね。

[参考：News WEB EASY]

地震：じしん　earthquake
揺れる：ゆれる shake
可能性：かのうせい possibility
脱線する：だっせんする　detail
乗客：じょうきゃくpassenger
壊れている：こわれている　broken
運転（うんてん）を再開（さいかい）する：resume running

Nihongo Short Story by Noriko

日本で大きな地震がありました

The Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal (pronounced /ˌtɑːdʒ mə'hɑːl/) is a famous mausoleum next to the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. A mausoleum is a building where people bury the dead. The name Taj Mahal means 'the crown of palaces'.

1. 
The most famous part of the Taj Mahal is the large white dome in the centre. It is 35 metres high and is surrounded by four smaller domes. The rooms inside the building are decorated with beautiful archways and precious stones in the walls. The buildings are surrounded by gardens with pathways, pools, fountains and green gardens.

2.
The construction of the Taj Mahal began in 1632 and finished in 1653. It was built with materials from all over India and Asia, but the main material is white marble. Historians believe that the materials were transported by over 1,000 elephants for the construction.

3.
The emperor Shah Jahan built the Taj Mahal as a burial place for his wife, Mumtaz Mahal. According to legend, he wanted to build another Taj Mahal in black on the other side of the river, but this never happened. During the Indian Rebellion of 1857, many parts of the Taj Mahal were damaged by British soldiers, who took some of the precious stones from its walls. Over the years, the Taj Mahal has suffered from environmental damage, and there have been many government attempts to conserve its beauty.

4.
The Taj Mahal is one of India's most famous landmarks. There are millions of visitors to the mausoleum every year. The Taj Mahal is almost always included in lists of famous buildings to visit and is considered one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Habits of Highly Effective English Communicators

Daily Reading & Comprehension. Taj Mahal

The Adventures of Captain Underpants by Dav Pilkey
Chapter 17 The Escape
Captain Underpants defeats Dr. Diaper with the underwear he is wearing.

Listen and follow along.
Send me a message for your free pdf copy of this book.
https://www.italki.com/en/teacher/13365914

The Adventures of Captain Underpants

Chapter 17 The Escape

Ecco tornato nostro appuntamento settimanale alla scoperta delle città italiane! Oggi parliamo della città di Napoli, una delle più grandi ed incantevoli città d’arte del Mediterraneo che, personalmente, consiglio a tutti di visitare almeno una volta nella vita.

Level: Intermediate
Source and transcription: https://www.italia.it/it/napoli

🗺   CITTÀ ITALIANE #QuickItalianWithMara

🌋 NAPOLI

From Two Sales to Bestseller: UK Author Goes Viral
When English author Vicky Ball sold two of her books at an event in December, she was delighted.

She shared the news on X, and said she was pleased because at some previous events she had not sold any books at all.

But she's now sold many more copies than that, after her post went viral and was seen millions of times by people around the world.

Her first novel, called Powerless, quickly climbed up Amazon's bestseller lists in the teen and young adult categories.

Ball, who is 48, told The Guardian that it was "amazing" to hear from people around the world who had bought her books.

Her second novel — Abandoned — has also been doing well on Amazon, and has gotten good reviews from customers.

Like so many authors, Ball had to fit in her writing around her work and family life.

She wrote her first book during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020. She was working as a teacher at that time, so she spent weekends writing with her laptop on her knees.

Now Ball works at a university, and she's also studying writing in her free time.

She also said she's gotten lots of support from other writers on social media.

Asked by The Guardian if she had advice for other authors she said: "Just write!"

She said she begins writing before she has planned all of her story. "It's like a journey," she said. "You never know where it's going to go."

Practice Listening, Reading & Comprehension

From Two Sales to Bestseller: UK Author Goes Viral

        山西省大同市，是中国的一个四线城市，我们介绍“悬空寺“时提到的“浑源县“就属于这里。Datong City, Shanxi Province, is a fourth-tier city in China. The "Hunyuan County" mentioned in the introduction of "Xuankong Temple" belongs here.
        虽然这个城市的经济不像一线和超一线城市那么发达，但是每年都有世界各地的旅游者、络绎不绝地来到这里。Although the economy of this city is not as developed as the first and super first tier cities, but every year there are tourists from all over the world, an endless stream to come here.
        原因很简单：举世闻名的“云冈石窟“就在这个城市。The reason is simple: the world-famous Yungang Grottoes are located in this city.


新鲜事儿（Anecdote）

云冈石窟

Today, I talk about the phrase "to shed light on", a new William Blake Art Exhibition and a London Museum wants to employ a Taylor Swift fan.

Transcript:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/169vSssT9OzHRbTeLDL3mM2Duzfw2TXm6/view?usp=drive_link